The Past Generation
by mar-map
Summary: The Tenth Doctor goes back through all the people he cared for in his current form before the inevitable regeneration starts.


(**Disclaimer:** I do not claim to own _Doctor Who_ in any way. Some of the events are a little off as well, sorry about that. It's also my first _Doctor Who_ story. Hope you can enjoy anyway!)

She was tired from the massive amounts of running but at least Mickey was there. Sure there was a Santarian out for their blood but that didn't really matter, did it?

As Martha spoke she glanced around until she saw _him_. It was the Doctor up on the railing. An unwitting smile lit up at the sigh of the Time Lord. Something was wrong though. He didn't smile back, in fact he simply walked away. She frowned and leaned back against Mickey.

* * *

><p>Luke had never actually met the Doctor. His mother could talk about him for hours though. He'd only ever heard good things from her and K-9. Mr. Smith talked about him too though the computer had never actually met him.<p>

So when he was pulled out from in front of a car - purely by his own stupidity and obliviousness that he even needed someone to help with that - by none other than the Doctor. He recognized the man by what he'd been told, not to mention the sub-wave network communications.

The Doctor began to leave almost immediately. "Mom!" Luke cried quickly to get her attention before the Doctor was gone. he knew how much she missed the alien.

Luke was careful to actually look both ways before crossing the street this time. "Mom! It's the Doctor!" Luke called as he pulled to a halt in front of her and pointed.

The Doctor was unlocking the door to the TARDIS. He turned as he pushed the blue door in and waved somewhat at his mother. Sarah Jane smiled and waved back as the Doctor stepped into his blue box.

* * *

><p>There he was. Jack had spent years, centuries, waiting for the Doctor in Cardiff and now here he was. Torchwood Three was gone, destroyed and Jack wasn't even in Cardiff anymore, yet there was the Doctor.<p>

Jack opened the paper from the bartender, half afraid to look away in case the next time he looked up the Doctor would be gone. _His name is Alonzo._

The captain looked up questioningly through the crowd. The Doctor was still there, hands deep in the pockets of his coat. The man simply nodded in the direction of the man sitting next to him.

Quickly Jack checked the tired, depressed man over before turning back to the Doctor. The Time Lord saluted and Jack immediately sat to attention and did the same. Then the Doctor was gone, lost in the trans-galactic crowd.

"So, Alonzo, going my way?"

The man perked up at the sound of his name, raising his head in interest of the older captain. "How do you know my name?"

Jack shrugged and picked up his drink. "I'm kinda physic."

"What am I thinking right now?" He was leaning forward toward Jack, smiling with awe.

Jack just raised his brow suggestively. "Oh, yeah," he answered with a laugh. The Doctor had _definitely_ done him a favor.

* * *

><p>The book signing had been going well but she had a feeling no one really believed her story. Of course, who would? Still, she'd tell it to anyone who asked.<p>

Another book was laid in front of her. "And who's it for?"

"The Doctor."

"To at the Doctor," she said, signing with little thought. "Funny, that's the name he used." When she said it she hesitated, looking up at the mysterious man. He looked so lonely.

"Was she happy?"

She couldn't help but stare at this unbelievable man who had stolen her great-grandmother's heart decades ago. "Yes, yes she was." He seemed about to cry now. There was so much pain and loneliness gathered in those old eyes of his. "Were you?"

He just smiled weakly at her and gathered up his signed book before slipping away from the table for the next in line. The impossible Doctor.

* * *

><p>Wilf saluted, he knew he couldn't do anything else. He tired to wave but got too caught up with trying not to cry. He didn't want the Doctor to go.<p>

There was so much the Doctor could still do and he'd ruined it all. He wanted the Doctor to stay, to fix his Donna, to take them to the farthest reaches of the universe, to simply be the extraordinary being that he was.

He didn't want to see the resolved look in the Doctor's eyes, the hardened expression. The Doctor knew he was going to die and had accepted it. Wilf knew he was never going to see him again and that hurt most of all.

* * *

><p>Rose had decided a night in sounded like the best way to go about this New Years' despite her mother's choice to go out drinking. When she heard a noise she turned around quickly.<p>

The man she saw was a stranger but she couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for him. "Had a bit too much to drink, mister?"

"Yes, what's the date?" He was clutching his side in an attempt to stand up straight. If he didn't know the date he must really have been drunk. "It's been a long night." He said it as if that made everything better.

"2005," she said slowly, "January the first."

"Oh," the man said with a bit of a sad smile. "I bet you're going to have a great year."

Rose just smiled at him. "Well, have a good night." She left him there to walk to her apartment, taking the stairs two at a time.

"This song is ending, Doctor," said the Ood before him in the snow. The Doctor chose not to question its presence. "Let the universe sing you to sleep."

The Doctor struggled back to his feet as the music began. He stumbled drunkenly to the TARDIS, throwing his coat onto a rail as he entered.

Already the process was really setting in. He was starting to feel the life-force of the TARDIS leave him as the regeneration really set in. He thought back to all the things he'd done, all the people he'd met this time, and he knew one thing. "I don't want to go."


End file.
